Over the past several months, a vacant and decrepit building at Greenville Downtown Airport has undergone a dramatic transformation.

A place that was a barren and crumbling circa-1953 metal building is turning into a tribute to the soldiers and sailors and airmen who fought in the wars of the 20th century, and it’s filled with things that they wore, carried, and drove.

The Military History Museum, created by the Military History Center of the Carolinas, has been in the works for most of the year, and local businesses and individuals have contributed money, products, and services to help renovate the metal building where it’s housed.

While there’s still plenty of work to be done before the museum can open year-round, visitors can check out the progress, and the artifacts, on Saturday, when the museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in honor of Veterans Day.

Visitors enter through a gift shop where there’s a machine with an old-fashioned typewriter that was used to create dog tags during World War II.

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A World War II dog tag maker is on display at the Military History Museum at the Greenville Downtown Airport on Monday, November 6, 2017. (Photo: BART BOATWRIGHT/Staff)

In the main area of the museum, the stern face of Uncle Sam stares down from a vintage poster, urging “I want YOU for the U.S. Army,” framed newspapers declare “Nazis Quit,” and jeeps representing several wars are parked around the interior.

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Military memorabilia on display at the Military History Museum at the Greenville Downtown Airport on Monday, November 6, 2017. (Photo: BART BOATWRIGHT/Staff)

Among the oldest items in the collection are artifacts from the Spanish-American War, including a 45-star flag.

The museum has a “touch table,” where kids can try on helmets and Army jackets, climb around on a jeep, and get a feel for the heavy equipment soldiers used for communication several decades ago.

An open house during last month’s Wings of Freedom tour brought out about 2,000 people. “These kids came in here, and they just went ape over this,” said curator Mike Keller.

One big task remaining in the renovations is the heating and air conditioning system. Once the money is raised and the system is installed, the museum can open on a regular basis, said Lara Kaufmann, public relations director for the Downtown Airport.

“So we’re coming along pretty well,” Kaufmann said.

In the spring, the museum will focus on fifth-grade field trips, and a recent $5,000 grant from Lockheed Martin will help to provide the materials for that, Kaufmann said.

“One of the things they learn is about the propaganda posters and other things that were going on during World War I and World War II, so we bought a bunch of posters with the financing that they got,” she said.

Many of the items on display come from the collection of Keller, who has been interested in military memorabilia since he was a kid.

The collection features weapons, including a 75-mm recoilless rifle; German and Japanese military uniforms and weaponry; Lucky Strike cigarette packets that World War II soldiers received; military scrip from World War I and World War II; and memorabilia signed by Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the Enola Gay, which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

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Military memorabilia on display at the Military History Museum at the Greenville Downtown Airport on Monday, November 6, 2017. (Photo: BART BOATWRIGHT/Staff)

There’s a Claymore mine from the Vietnam War, jungle boots that soldiers would have worn during that war, sunburn cream, and the tin-canned C-rations that the soldiers ate.

From the post-9/11 wars, there are several different styles of camouflage fatigues displayed, from the “chocolate chip” design to the more recent digital camo.

The Military History Museum is at 14 Airport Road Extension, near the Runway Café. For more info, go to www.greenvilledowntownairport.com/MHCC.